Game Mod
City 7: Toronto Conflict
- 2008
- Released
- School of Design (George Brown College)
A full Half-Life 2 single-player mod placing Gordon Freeman in a Combine-occupied Toronto after a teleportation accident from Dr. Kleiner's lab. Players explore a dystopian version of recognisable Toronto landmarks: Dundas Square, the Eaton Centre, Mel Lastman Square, St. Michael's Hospital, and the Toronto Transit System — all reimagined under Combine rule as 'City 7.' The mission: help the local rebel faction free citizens from a Combine processing plant and find a teleporter back to the Half-Life 2 story arc. Despite a small development team and short production time, the mod delivers 2–3 hours of gameplay across 11 maps — a complete narrative experience with scripted AI, cinematics, and authored character dialogue built and shipped by a student team.
- First thesis project from the Game Design program at George Brown College
- Listed on the Valve Developer Community wiki and featured on ModDB and RunThinkShootLive
- Ported to Steam Workshop and remains playable today with an active community patch
- Praised by external reviewers for level design quality, atmosphere, and production scope
Challenge
Lead a student team of eight through the full production cycle of a single-player Half-Life 2 mod set in real-world Toronto landmarks — across 11 maps, 2–3 hours of authored gameplay, scripted AI, cinematics, and character dialogue — as the first thesis project from a brand-new game design program.
Solution
Led conceptual design, level direction, world building, and gameplay scripting across all maps; managed eight team members through production; authored AI scripting, cinematic sequences, and character dialogue; and drove gameplay polish and quality across all levels for final release.
Outcome
Shipped as the first thesis project from George Brown College's Game Design program. Listed on the Valve Developer Community wiki and featured on ModDB and RunThinkShootLive (which singled out the subway sequence as 'one of the most engaging I can remember' and called the team 'a credit to George Brown's Game Design program'). Later ported to Steam Workshop with a Source SDK 2013 compatibility patch and remains active in the Half-Life 2 community.
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Recognition
Contributions
- Led conceptual design, level design direction, world building, and gameplay scripting across all maps
- Managed the full team of 8 through production, coordinating level designers, artists, and support
- Authored AI scripting, cinematic sequences, and character dialogue
- Drove gameplay polish and quality across all levels for final release
Collaborators
- Team of 8 game design students and support members
